general awareness

  Derivatives Definition of Derivatives One of the most significant events in the securities markets has been the development and expansion of financial derivatives. The term “derivatives” is used to refer to financial instruments which derive their value from some underlying assets. The underlying assets could be equities (shares), debt (bonds, T-bills, and notes), currencies, and even indices of these various assets, such as the Nifty 50 Index. Derivatives derive their names from their respective underlying asset. Thus if a derivative’s underlying asset is equity, it is called equity derivative and so on. Derivatives can be traded either on a regulated exchange, such as the NSE or off the exchanges, i.e., directly between the different parties, which is called “over-the-counter” (OTC) trading. (In India only exchange traded equity derivatives are permitted under the law.) The basic purpose of derivatives is to transfer the price risk (inherent in fluctuations of the asset prices)...